


Coin Flip

by MixterGlacia



Series: Spare Change [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-07 19:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6820549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MixterGlacia/pseuds/MixterGlacia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People always joked that they were two sides of the same coin. </p><p>Maine and Wash are picked for Eta and Iota.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coin Flip

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from my Tumblr.

Damn near everyone wasn’t surprised when Wash insisted on staying near Maine’s side after he’d been shot. Most were also not surprised that the now permanently mute Freelancer shot up to top priority for an AI. (Even South agreed he needed one) No one expected the side effects of implanting Eta before Iota.

Wash was woken up by one hell of a commotion. Maine, seeming to be fresh out of his implant surgery, was tucked into the corner of his bed hyperventilating. 

“Okay, -why- are you here and not in reco-” He didn’t get to finish. A very frightened AI made sure of that.

 _“WHERE IS SHE? WHY IS SHE NOT HERE?”_ Eta was hovering right in front of Wash’s visor, rapidly flashing and distorting. Maine had grabbed his arm, stopping just short of seriously injuring his teammate.  _“HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? **TELL ME**!”_

“MAINE!” Wash shouted, trying to pry his arm free. (Better safe than broken in three places.) “Who is -she-?!” 

Eta pause, light flickering nervously. Maine’s grip loosened, but he still refused to let go for some reason.

“I…Iota.” The AI whispered. “My -twin-. I need her, why isn’t she here?” 

The mute Freelancer’s face was twisted with grief. Tears involuntarily welled as his AI panicked. 

“You have a tw- no, wait…” It took Wash a second to process this. “They didn’t implant her yet?”

“No. I would know if she was online. -Please- you have to help me-”

“I know I do, I just-” He huffed. AI were anything but patient. “I need you to take a minute because you’re sending a severely wounded man into a full blown panic attack. You can’t find Iota if your partner can’t -breathe-.”

Eta froze, looking back at Maine, who was shaking badly. He flickered, then zipped back over to him, apologizing quietly and asking if he needed medical attention.

He shook his head no, carefully pulling Wash towards him. He growled weakly.

Before Eta could translate, Wash was already getting a water bottle out of the mini-fridge and an ice pack. As he handed them over to Maine, Eta flickered back over to him.

“…You didn’t need me to tell you?” 

“I live with him. I’ve been his translator for years.” Wash explained dryly.

“R-Right…” 

“Look…I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll try everything I can to find Iota for you. Okay?” He had no fucking clue what he was doing.

“You’d-” Eta flickered again. This seemed to be a normal thing with this AI. “You’d do that?”

“Well yeah, no shit. You’re with Maine now, and I’m Maine’s support in and out of battle.” Even his visor couldn’t mask the pointed look he gave Eta. “That means I support you.”

 

Wash was rather busy juggling a frustrating as all fucking hell computer search, a terrified AI, and a post-op teammate all at once. Handing Maine a fresh bottle of water, he settled back down at his terminal when the speaker in the ceiling crackled to life.

“ **Agent Washington. You are needed in the Medical Bay.** _ **Immediately.**_ ”

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” He threw his hands up in the air, saving the page he was studying. He turned to the shaking mess that was inhabiting the bed beside his. “Look, I’m already in deep shit, I need to go see what they want with me.” He didn’t let the pair get in a word before continuing. “It’s -probably- something for you two, so I need to go get it done. Okay?”

Eta flickered nervously, eventually nodding. Maine gave a standard grunt in approval.

“Alright. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’ll comm’ you if anything comes up.” With that, Wash left.

 

“Do you understand Agent Washington?” The eerily cheerful doctor asked for a second time.

“No, I don’t understand, you’re telling me you’ve just -randomly- decided I need an AI?! You didn’t even give me the standard lesson shit that everyone else had t-”

“Agent Washington, are you saying you do not want an AI?” The Director drawled from his chair in the corner.

“-No- god damnit! I’m asking why it’s out of the blue! I don’t even know what AI you wa-”

“Well I hope you would. You’ve been snooping around it since the night before last.”  Well that sure shut someone up.

Wash couldn’t even respond beyond nodding. He did make a promise and while this was shady as all hell, at least he could try to rectify his teammate’s over-frightened AI.

“Perfect. Prep him for surgery doctor.” The Director was smiling. That was never a good sign.

It felt rushed, suddenly all of the armor from the shoulders up had to go and get sterilized, everyone was dashing around looking for things. Nurses and doctors popped in and out, hooking him up to an IV, giving him numbing medication, and eventually (thankfully) sedating him.

 

When he woke up, all hell broke loose.

Neither hell or highwater could stop Iota from forcing her host to get the fuck out of the Med Bay. She was an AI on a mission and protocol be damned. She hi-jacked her still out of it partner and knocked out three medics on her way out.

She could feel Eta and needed to get to him. He was in a panic (but what else is new?) and needed her there to help. He didn’t seem to be able to move but she damn well could and would.

 

Alarms were never a good thing. Alarms, missing armor, and not knowing why the fuck you were suddenly assaulting medical staff were absolutely horrific things.

“What in the -world- is going on right now?” He thought, not really expecting an answer.

“We are going to find Eta and his partner Maine.” Well this gave new levels of ‘migraine’.

“…Iota, right?” Wow Wash, great start there buddy.

“Obviously. Stop talking, start helping me.”

 

So he did. When he finally corrected how lost Iota had gotten, he bolted for his room, dodging a rather small group of nurses on the way.

Maine practically tackled him before he could get in the door. 

Wash struggled to figure out where he ended and Iota began and where she stopped and Eta started. Everything was going so fast, demands of knowing what condition the other was in, frantic narratives, jumbled questions. It was overwhelming.

“Eta. Iota. You’re pissing me off. Give him a minute.”

And hearing a silenced voice talk again was enough to make Wash pass out.

When he came to a few minutes later, he realized he could still hear it.

“Wake the fuck up already.” Maine snapped, pressing a water bottle into Wash’s hand. “Drink it. You need it.”

 

It took a few rounds of back and forth for Wash to realize he wasn’t actually talking. It was also fucking wild to grasp the fact that he and Maine were communicating telepathically. Eta was quick to correct him, explaining that they as AI’s shared a link and thus could relay thoughts. (Fuck him, it was telepathy for all Wash cared at this point.)

So they sat next to each other on the floor, just talking. Eta and Iota became rather mellow once they were reunited, able to offer the dreaded tutorials and check their hosts vitals. Not that they could’ve gotten away with destroying the Med Bay for long.

After an hour or so, they were retrieved, and came along calmly when assured they would be going together.

The Director watched through the glass quietly. He knew they’d become a force to be reckoned with after gaining the twin AI units. He hadn’t really planned on them costing over twenty grand by destroying his hospital.

At least they weren’t against him. Yet.

* * *

**Epilogue- Penny Drops**

 

It had been several months since Wash and Maine had been paired with the twin AI units Eta and Iota and one thing was for sure, they were insufferable now. Well, for Florida anyway. He always wanted a nice leisurely conversation, rushing didn’t suit him at all. Rushing totally suited the pair though, and it was a force to be reckoned with socially. Social, they’d say, wasn’t their goal.

In all honesty though it was actually a very good arrangement other than that. On one hand you had Wash with Iota, the happiness. The benefit was quite clear there, after all the man had been rather clearly suffering from a stronger depression than the staff was able to keep up with, so Iota’s rather aggressive optimism was one hell of a good thing to have on board.

The other half had been much more dubious. Many had thought Eta’s fearful nature would jeopardize their living tank. Instead of making him paranoid though, it made him -smart-. Before Maine had no issues diving head first into anything and everything and leave it to Carolina or Wash to get him out. Now in addition to Wash knowing where he would be at any time, Maine knew exactly what he was getting into and -how- he needed to go about taking it out courtesy of Eta.

They were in balance as long as they had the other with them. The few times they’d managed to separate them, the AI became unhinged. Eta would force his host into the closest hidey-hole he could find and Iota made hers go on the absolute warpath through the ship.

There were still some bugs to work out. Maine and Wash frankly didn’t care. They had each other, hell and high water wouldn’t take that away.

 


End file.
